WHAT’S THE LATEST?

The good news is, we now have the siding on site.  The bad news is the garage doors are delayed.  They are not going to get to us for a week or two.  The PP&L power poles are all in - at least, all but one.  The next step is, we will have to put the trench in, so they can run the power from the poles to the house.   John will get a trencher machine and dig that.

There are three decisions we need to make.  The first one is, we need to make a decision about our two HVAC quotes.  I’m 98% sure we’re leaning towards the heat pump, as much as I like the idea of geothermal.  It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to pay off in the end for us.  In my reading about it, it’s not quite cold enough, or hot enough here.  I think it needs to be a little more extreme, one way or another.  John might change his mind, the HVAC is really his thing.  I only put my two cents in for the geothermal because I thought it would be a more green choice.  But we need to take the “green” and the cost and put the two together.  So, I’m pretty sure we’ll go with the heat pump and have a propane backup.

The other thing is, we have not picked out the whirlpool tub for the bathroom.  We need to get that picked out, so we can get it in before the walls are so closed up that we can’t get it in.

The third thing is, we have drawn where all of the sinks and toilets will go, so they will start cutting the holes for that.

Also, I need to pick out hardware for my cabinets.  I kind of put that off for a while, because it will be a while before I need to make any decisions. 

SO, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR SIDING.

Well, it’s made by Certainteed and it’s called Board and Batten.  It’s made out of Vinyl.  It’s got a textured surface to look like sawn cedar boards.  We’ll be putting it up next week.   We have all the trim pieces and something called starter strips.   We will need to rent a cherry picker to put it up, because it will be too high to reach otherwise.

HOW ABOUT THE WELL?

We have two quotes on the well.  They actually charge based on the number of feet they think they’ll have to go down.  The one guy that quoted us was recommended by a friend of ours.   Our friend said he actually uses divining rods to find the water.  The last time I saw a well drilled, I was about ten years old, and I remember a man coming out and using the divining rod.   So, I guess they still use that method.   If we end up hiring that guy, I would love to take a video of him doing that.

I don’t know where John is with the septic system.  I know he has talked with people, but I don’t think we have any quotes yet.

YOU’VE GOT A LOT IRONS IN THE FIRE.  DOES THAT TAKE US UP TO SPEED?

Yes, it’s a lot going on - and yes, I think that takes us up to speed for this week.